The Devil Riding is the sixth installment of the popular series. Tamara has been hired by Dominique and Foster Desmond, a prominent New Jersey couple, to find their missing 18-year-old daughter. Tamara initially suspects that the girl has taken a hiatus from the Desmonds' rigid family environment. However, her search soon leads her to the tawdry Atlantic City netherworlds of runaway- and throwaway-teens and into a den of dangerous high rollers.

The case is further complicated by the brutal murders of young women. Police theorize that the murders, which have occurred during the first week of each month, are the work of a serial killer. Tamara gets involved when she discovers the most recent victim had ties to the missing Desmond girl.

The Devil Riding is vintage Valerie Wilson Wesley. Like others in the Tamara Hayle series, The Devil Riding is a mystery set within the deep-rooted intergenerational secrets of a dysfunctional family. As always, the truths are not pretty.

The biggest unsolved mystery is that of Tamara Hayle and her own family history. For five years, Tamara has alluded to child abuse, the unresolved suicide of her older brother and her own fragmented family life. The questions remain unanswered here.

At some point during the evolution of the Tamara Hayle mysteries, the balance began to shift away from being a detective series to being a series about a detective. The painstaking detective work that marked When Death Comes Stealing is less evident. Questions are still asked and leads are still followed. However, recent cases have been solved more on the instinct and by insights Tamara gleaned as a cop than actual detective work. This would probably be a strong-three star-read except for one important element: Basil Dupree is back.

The fourth star in this rating is for bad-boy Basil Dupree. The dashing and dangerous Basil Dupree was introduced in the first mystery, reprised in Where Evil Sleeps and very briefly alluded to in Easier to Kill. Basil and Tamara have a relationship she can only describe as "contradictory."

However, it is through the presence of Basil Dupree, in this book and the others, that Tamara's character receives broader definition, dimension and focus. It is the "contradictory" nature of their relationship brings out Basil's brighter instincts and Tamara's darker side. Seduced by the danger and unpredictability of their relationship, she is forced to examine who she really is. The streetwise private investigator, friend and single mother reveals the woman within. Basil is not untouched by their infrequent association and reveals more of himself as well.

The combination makes The Devil Riding worth a look.

--Gwendolyn Osborne